Improvement in car-couplings



UNITED STATES PATENT OEETCEo SIMON B. PETBEE AND ADAM O. HENSLEE, OF MINIER, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-COUPLINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 158,975, dated January 19, 1875; application filed May 16, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, SIMON B. PETREE and ADAM C. HENsLEE, of Minier, in the county of Tazewell and State of Illinois, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in `Car- Oouplings; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and

to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure l of the drawings is a representation of a sectional view of our car-coupling, and Fig. 2 is an end view. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail.

rlhis invention has relation to self-coupling draw-heads, and means for uncoupling either from side of the car or from the roof thereof'.

The nature of my invention consists in the construction and novel arrangement of a long and a short operating-lever, respectively, located near the bottom and top of a car, and connected by a link, the lower lever having a swinging fulcrum and a curved sliding connection with the head of the coupling-pin, whereby the pin is allowed to be drawn upward in the prolongation of its axial line, whether operated from the top of the car by the short lever, or from the ground by the long one, as hereinafter set forth.

In the annexed drawings, A designates the end of a railroad-car, and B is a draw-head, which is allowed to receive end play against a spring, P. Inside of this draw-head is a block, l), the front end of which is concave laterally, and the upper edge is lipped, as shown at a, Fig. l. In rear of this block is a spring, S, which forces it forward, so that shoulders formed on its sides will abut against stop-shoulders 11 i on the inner walls of the draw-head, as shown in Fig. 3, in which p0- sition the block D will lie beneath a couplingpin, E, and hold this pin up, as shown in Fig. 1. When a link, O, is thrust into the drawhead, and the block D forced back thereby, the pin E will drop through the link and couple it. Coupling-pin E is constructed with an eye on its upper end, which receives the hooked end f of a lever, F. This lever F extends out laterally to one side of the car, and is guided by a loop, b, and has its fulcrum ou a bracket, G. It is by means of the lever F tnt t a person at one side of the car can raise the pin E and uncouple cars. Should it be desired to move cars about in a yard, or to move them on sidings without coupling them., the leverF is depressed and held in this position by means of a catch, c. The hooked end of lever F is connected, by a rod, r, to the hooked end of a lever, J, which is pi voted to the end of the car near .the roof, and guided by a staple, k. This lever allows the pin E to be raised from the top of the car, and, by means of a catch, c', the pin'E can be held up so that it will not couple.

It will be seen from the above description that we combine with a pin-supporting block means which will allow a person to raise said pin either from the top of a car or from one side thereof, and thus effect an uncoupling; and also provide for holding up the coupling when it is desired to back cars on sidings without coupling them.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, with the lower lever, F, its swinging fulcruni G, and curved slide end f, of the top-lever J, connecting-link r', and vertically-moving coupling-pin E, having a sliding connection with said slide end, as specified.

In testimony that we claim the above we have hereunto subscribed our names in the presence of two witnesses.

SIMON B. PETREE. ADAM O. HENSLEE. Witnesses:

FREDERICK LEY, D.IH. ARBURY. 

